I have a bronco with a badly smoking efi302 in it and it has an AOD trans. My father has a 351W in the garage that he built many many moons ago and he has offered to let me run it in order to gain a square foot of shop space back. It was long enough ago that he can't remember what he has inside of it, he does remember that it was balanced though. I have a foggy dim recollection of hearing about an 9.5:1 compression ratio when I was young and the engine was going into a different car. I haven't gotten the head #'s yet so I can't add that bit of info. I have picked up an upper and lower intake, throttle body, efi dist and a rear sump oil pan for the 351w. Since I just put in a brand new tank/pump/sending unit I want to run efi in the truck. Aside from road driving duties the truck will be used for 4X4ing and towing a trailer, it currently has 33" tires.

Finally on to the questions:
1. What is available out there for a good performance cam? Should I just buy an RV cam?
2. What can I do as far as computer upgrades?
3. Will the 302 computer be able to run the 351W?
4. Is a roller cam worth the bother in this case or is my money better spent elsewhere?
5. Will the 302 exhaust manifolds work on the 351?
6. What parts am I forgetting? (I want to get it all together before I start this)
7. What other performance options am I unaware of?

 

There are lots of cams available for the 351.. the determining factor will be if you have MassAir or speed density EFI. If possible pick up a mustang computer and engine wiring harness with the mass air system.. this greatly improves you cam choices and performance potential. Yes, the mustang computer works just fine with a 351, it's what Ford puts in the MassAir conversion kits.
To select a cam you then need to decide if you want all pulling power down low.. 250 duration or lower, all horsepower on top.. 300 duration +, or something in the middle.
You'll generally make more power with a roller cam, but you can get similar results with a flat tappet. There is a big difference between the price of the 2.
Heads on the windor engines are identical for the same year, so the exhaust manifolds bolt right up. Highly recommended you use long tube headers, though.
Roller rockers are always a good addition. If you get a cam that turns out to be more conservative that you had hoped, adding 1.72 RR's will give you more effective lift and duration.
Do you have the fuel rail for the 351 lower? The 302 fuel rail won't fit. Hope your distibutor is also a 351 version, the lower journal where it goes into the block is bigger than the 302 version.

Check the gearing in your axles.. if you plan to keep the 33" rubber you are gonna want 4:11s. Nothing kills acceleration on truck like big tires.
Good luck...

 

Get more info info on the motor (mainly the cam and if it's actually 9.5:1 C/R).

A 351 can run/drive with a run-of-the-mill 302 calibration. However, the tables and parameters are scaled for a 5.0 so it wont be spot on. I say this because I've seen gains in power by making tuning changes (simply adjusting the timing and fuel tables and adjusting the MAF transfer function), and idle, driveability and WOT performance were better with the motor/build at hand.
As mentioned above, a Mustang type mass air conversion would be your best bet; there's a large number of dealers that can work/tune them which is a big plus.

 

what year is your bronco? since your running an AOD i would assume its an 89 or older at least. you can locate a 351w/C6 ecu from 88-90 in bronco/f150's and from 88-95 in f250/f350's. just reuse your 302 harness this is what i did and works great. if you decide to go this route a 35-255-5 compcam is best suited for that efi computer and will give good gains. 9.5cr is about max with 87octane and will run fine with the efi system you currently have (speed density). Going MAF will give you more cam selections and is easier to tune down the road. so going that route isnt bad or hard. check out www.fordfuelinjection.com they sell harness's and such that are easier to wire up for a novice person. cutting an splicing a mustang harness might be a tad tedius for a beginner. either way you on the right track and keep us posted with what you find out about the motor.

late

 

The Bronco is an '86 (motor is original) and the 'new' windsor is either a '69 or a '70 and is currently running a 2V carb (I have no idea what he was thinking with that one). I have heard somewhere that the heads are different on the older windsors and that my new efi lower manifold isn't going to fit. Have I heard correctly?

I recall the sticker that came with the cam in the windsor said 'blue racer'. If I am needing to replace heads as well, maybe I should trade my efi manifolds for a 4V model. What is involved in retrograding a bronco?

 

The '69 heads are different in the fact that they have 16 head bolts, not 12 like the '71 and newer heads. This isn't a problem however when using newer components because you simply don't use those bolt holes you can't see anymore. Not a big deal. The '69 and '70 blocks have a slightly shorter deck height and may cause some minor alignment issues when bolting down the intake. With the shorter deck, the heads are marginally narrower so the intake will sit a bit higher on the runners. Check it to see if it's really a problem and if so, use a little thinner intake gasket. Worst case scenerio is you would have to mill a bit off the intake, but that's only if they decked the block quite a bit.

Hope that helps.